


Miscommunication

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [19]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Toph Beifong, Episode: s02e06 The Blind Bandit, Gen, HERE SHE IS Y'ALL, I tried really hard not to use visual descriptions guys let me know if it worked, LET'S FIND OUT, Let Toph Say Fuck 2020, TOPH SMASH!!!, Toph Being Awesome, Toph is done with everyone's bullshit, how does one communicate when one can't talk and the other can't see?, i hope i did her justice!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25506973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: Toph can't see.Her new friend can't talk.This may be a problem.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Zuko, Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & The Gaang, Toph Beifong & Toph Beifong's Parents, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 467
Kudos: 3918
Collections: Finished111





	Miscommunication

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> ALL HAIL TOPH BEIFONG!!

There are strangers in her garden.

Four heartbeats, standing behind a cluster of tall bushes, so close together that the beats all overlap. They're trying to be sneaky.

They've failed.

Toph delicately stomps her right heel beneath her skirts, and revels in the screams as the strangers fly through the air. Three thuds, two muffled by the cloudberry bushes and one loud against the earth, and one light _thump_ as the fourth person lands on their hands and feet like a pygmy puma. One of the screams is familiar––it's that boy from the arena last night, the one whose feet barely touch the ground. She plants herself in front of him and scowls.

"What are you doing here, Twinkletoes?" She demands.

"How'd you know it was me?" The boy asks.

"Don't answer to _Twinkletoes_ , it's not manly!" Another boy protests, heart thumping loud.

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt," a girl snaps back.

Toph ignores the peanut gallery and puts all of her noble training into her next question, "How did you find me?"

Twinkletoes starts babbling about a crazy king and a magic swamp, but is cut off by the girl.

"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord," she explains, and honestly, what gives these jokers any idea that she gives a badgermole's eye about any of this?

"Not my problem," Toph snaps, whipping out a hand in the girl's direction. "Now, get out of here, or I'll call the guards." Interestingly, the fourth heartbeat that hasn't said anything picks up at the mention of guards.

She starts walking away, passing the fourth heartbeat whose body seems much warmer than the others, and she idly wonders if they're running a fever. The thought flies out of her head when the second boy speaks.

"Look, we all have to do our part to end this war, and yours is to teach Aang earthbending."

Now that just _pisses her off_. She's got enough people telling her what to do, she's not going to take it from a bunch of idiots not much older than her.

She turns, adopts her "helpless little blind girl" voice, and calls, "Guards! Guards!"

The speed with which the interlopers leave is hilarious, and Toph would laugh out loud if she hadn't been focused on projecting the correct persona for the meatheaded private guards her father hires to keep her in and the rest of the world out.

She's led back inside, and servants brush the miniscule fragments of dirt and dust from her skirts and touch up her hair and lead her to sit in a chair for tea with her parents and Yu, who simper and twitter at each other for hours until the butler announces that the _Avatar_ has arrived.

Twinkletoes and his little entourage are escorted in, and introduce themselves to her parents. Toph tries to match voices to names––Aang, the Avatar, is Twinkletoes. Katara is the girl, and the Avatar's waterbending teacher. The second boy is Katara's brother, Sokka. The fourth heartbeat says nothing, but is introduced as Lee, the Avatar's bodyguard.

Dad invites the group to dinner, which devolves into chaos as the _incredibly annoying Avatar who should mind his own damn business_ keeps trying to out her as an earthbending master. Instigating a food fight may not be the most dignified method of protecting her secret, but she hates the dress she's wearing anyway, so it's no great loss. Afterward, Toph stomps off to her room to scream into a pillow, and after she's changed into her nightclothes and dismissed the servants, she sighs and decides that she really doesn't need to make an enemy of the Avatar.

She finds their guest room easily, and has to tamp down on the smirk that wants to form when she surprises Twinkletoes. They sneak out of the house into the cool spring night, and wander into the garden.

Toph never realized before how freeing it would feel to explain her abilities to someone who actually _gets it_ , and the wonder in Aang's voice does funny things to her insides.

Getting kidnapped is _not_ part of the plan, and she seethes the entire time she and Aang are in Xin Fu's custody. When her dad and Yu arrive with Aang's friends and the ransom money, she's released almost immediately, and Dad takes her hand and hurries her out of the arena.

They're halfway down the tunnel when Katara's voice echoes down to them. "Toph, there's too many of them! We need an earthbender! We need _you!"_

Dad doesn't give her a chance to open her mouth before he's going off about how _blind_ and _tiny_ and _helpless_ and _fragile_ she is.

She's _fucking sick_ of it.

She yanks her hand out of Dad's, and marches back into the arena.

The ensuing fight is the most fun she's ever had in her entire life.

The walk home afterwards is awkward as all fuck.

Dad is stiff and silent, each firm footstep sending a vibration that illustrates the tightness of his shoulders and rigidness of his posture. Twinkletoes and his entourage are chatting quietly amongst themselves, but there's a hole in their conversation that Toph can't make heads or tails of. It's like they're responding to something Toph can't hear, and she burns with curiosity. But when she tries to slow her steps to join them, Dad's arm shoots out and he places a hand on her back, keeping her level with him. She seethes, but keeps up his pace.

She stands before her parents and apologizes for deceiving them, explains how lonely and frustrated she's been since they've been keeping her isolated for most of her life, and hopes that maybe now that everything's out in the open, they'll really see her for who she really is.

Dad responds by declaring her a prisoner in her own home. To be "cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day". Toph's protest is shot down by Mom's blithe "we're doing this for your own good, Toph".

For the first time, she realizes that her parents are just as blind as she is, despite actually being able to see.

Lee's heartbeat spikes when Dad orders Aang and the others to leave, and for a moment Toph wonders if the silent bodyguard is going to resist the guards as they show him and the others the door.

"I'm sorry, Toph," Aang calls.

"I'm sorry too," she replies, not bothering to hide the tears that drip down her cheeks. "Goodbye, Aang."

Toph is escorted back to her room as though she hasn't completely mapped the entire estate in her twelve years of life. As though she's fucking _helpless_ , as though she hasn't proved exactly the opposite an hour ago.

She can't stay here anymore.

She orders the servants out. They hesitate, but when Toph grinds her teeth, they obey. She changes into her Blind Bandit clothes, packs extras in a bag, and earthbends a tunnel from the floor of her bedroom to half a mile outside the walls of the estate. She takes a moment to get her bearings, and she can feel the tiniest trace of something _big_ about a mile north.

She runs.

So it turns out that the _big_ thing is some kind of animal, with six massive legs and a long, broad flat tail. Every move the thing makes just drives home how fucking _big_ it is, and if Toph wasn't so focused on _getting the fuck away_ , she'd be very interested in introducing the creature to the local badgermoles.

She gets her revenge on Twinkletoes for taking her champion's title and Sokka drops the stupid belt on her head.

Over Sokka’s contrite “Sorry” and the _thud_ of Aang falling out of the tree she’d shot him into, she feels the vibrations of someone landing beside the giant animal like a cat-owl and striding on firm but nearly soundless feet towards her. The air grows warmer as they approach, almost imperceptibly, but it makes Toph want to lean in and snuggle the living daylights out of this person. There’s movement in the air, but no sound.

“Lee wants to know if you need a hand getting into the saddle,” Katara says.

“And why can’t he ask me himself?” Toph asks.

“Lee can’t talk,” Aang explains. “He communicates with a form of sign language that’s nearly all visual.” There’s a pause, and more movement in the air. “He says he’d talk if he could, but he’d rather not risk a panic attack.” She hears Sokka mutter _“dude, not funny”_ as Aang pauses again. “He still wants to know if you need a hand getting on Appa.”

“I can do it myself,” Toph declares, as the creature shifts and sends vibrations through her earth-sense. She stomps and bends herself up a column of rock that allows her to hop into the saddle on the creature’s back. Immediately she’s nearly overwhelmed with sensory input: the vibrations of the creature’s heartbeat and breathing, its barnyard-animal smell, the heat of its body through the smooth, soft fabric of the saddle. She grabs for the edge of the saddle, smooth polished wood cool beneath her hands, and takes some deep breaths.

She’s totally blind right now, but she’d take this over being her parents’ little _dress up doll_ any day of the week.

There’s a _thump_ as Lee lands in the saddle beside her, and the combined heat of him and the creature (Appa?) nearly starts Toph sweating.

“Appa, yip yip!” Aang commands, and Toph’s stomach is left behind as the creature _leaps into the fucking air._

“You okay there, Toph?” Sokka asks from somewhere ahead and to the left.

Toph grits her teeth and redoubles her grip on the edge of the saddle. “Just fine,” she grinds out.

“You’ll get used to it!” Aang sings out from way ahead of her. His voice is nearly lost in the rushing wind, and Toph doesn't bother answering.

They don’t fly for very long before she feels Appa begin to descend. The landing is barely a bump, but Toph is _so fucking glad_ to be on solid ground again. Lee circles their campsite, prowling like a pygmy puma, while Katara and Sokka unload sleeping bags and set up the campfire and Aang feeds Appa, who he says is a sky bison. Appa seems to have no issue with Toph crawling all over him to get a better picture of his appearance, and she's delighted with the animal's fluffy fur. As much as flying sucks, Appa himself is pretty cool.

Lee finishes his… whatever it was he was doing (a patrol? seems like something a bodyguard would do, based on her experience with her family's hired guards) and settles close to the pile of sticks Sokka has arranged in the firepit. With a sharp movement too fast for her to track with her earth sense, he sets the pile alight, but she didn't hear the click of spark rocks.

"Okay, so was anyone going to tell me that Lee is a firebender, or was I supposed to find out by witnessing him light a fire without spark rocks?" She drawls, and grins as she feels everyone's heartbeats spike. They settle down pretty quick––all except Lee's.

"Hey Sparky, take it easy, I'm not gonna rat you out," she tries to reassure him. "I'm actually kind of curious––not every day you find a firebender who's not affiliated with the Fire Nation, y'know?"

His heartbeat settles slightly, but the temperature of the air around him stays slightly elevated, and _Oma and Shu_ she's going to have _so much fun_ with this guy if his reactions are this visceral. There are sounds of movement, and sometimes the sound of flesh gently impacting flesh, and then Sokka speaks.

"Lee's asked me to interpret his signing for you," he says. " _'I apologize for being deceitful, but you're correct in that there aren't many firebenders who aren't affiliated with the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Ozai.'_ " The movement sounds continue, but Toph tunes them out as Sokka continues to speak. " _'My name is actually Zuko. I was a cadet in a Fire Nation Special Forces unit before I left to accompany Avatar Aang as his Firebending Master and personal bodyguard. I apologize for not speaking to you directly, but I have a way around that if you wouldn't mind telling more about your––'_ dude, I have no idea how to interpret that."

"I get the idea," Toph replies, waving a hand lazily. "You wanna know about my seismic sense, huh Sparky?"

"Huh, you're gonna have to make up a sign for that, Zuko," Sokka says.

"This'll all have to wait until after we all get some sleep," Katara cuts in, tone firm and maternal, and Toph grits her teeth at it. Has she traded one mother for another? She'll have to make it clear to Katara that the waterbender is _not_ the fucking boss of her. She can take care of herself, thank you very much.

However, sleep does sound pretty good right now, so Toph bends a rock tent and settles down for the night.

She's awoken the next morning by the sound of fire and flares of heat and the vibrations of what feels like a knock-down-drag-out fight, and _hel-LO, why did no one invite ME to this shindig???_ She explodes her rock tent away, and immediately Zuko's heartbeat fucking _skyrockets_.

"Zuko? It's okay, it's just Toph," Aang says, the heat dying instantly. "Good morning Toph! Zuko and I were having our morning firebending training!"

"Hey Twinkletoes, sounds like Sparky was pounding you into the dirt," Toph replies, a little confused as to why no one seems to be acknowledging the heart attack Zuko seems to be having over to her left. "You okay, Sparky?"

She hears him take a deep breath, and then another, and his heartbeat slowly calms as he keeps breathing. The sounds of movement and skin that she's quickly come to associate with his signing fill the air.

"He says he's fine," Aang replies, sounding doubtful.

"Breakfast!" Calls Katara from the campfire, and immediately Zuko's firm and silent footsteps stride off in her direction. Toph turns to follow, still confused, but Aang suddenly touches down in front of her, and she is fully distracted with trying not to throw a boulder at him for startling her.

"Toph, you know how Zuko was in the Fire Nation army?" He asks quietly, and she raises an eyebrow at him.

"I'm blind, not stupid, Twinkletoes," she snaps, and then the words sink in.

Fire Nation. Army.

The way his heart had gone rabbiroo-crazy when she'd bent her rock-tent.

"Shit," she says. "He saw combat, didn't he? Against earthbenders."

"He doesn't talk a lot about himself, but based on his reactions to stuff, we think so," Aang confirms. "He's our age, only a few months older than Sokka, but he's been through a lot."

She hears what the airbender doesn't say, and she doesn't reply, but stomps around him and marches to the firepit, where Katara, Sokka, and Zuko are already seated. After a surprisingly nice breakfast, Katara and Aang go off to do their waterbending thing, Sokka grudgingly trudges off to do the dishes, and Zuko and Toph were left sitting beside the smoldering campfire in silence.

Toph leans back on her hands, tilts her face up to the sun, and simply _feels_. The sun is warm on her face, the breeze is light and refreshing, and the dirt under her feet is cool and dry. Distantly, she can hear splashing, and Sokka screeching something. Beside her, she can hear Zuko breathing deeply and rhythmically, and his heartbeat, which had picked up a bit as the others had left, is finally settled down. With each inhale, the heat from the dying campfire increases, and decreases with each exhale.

After a while, the exaggerated breathing settles into something more natural, but still even and rhythmic, and he shifts to place one of his hands on the ground, between the pair of them.

_Taptaptaptap. Taptap._

Toph frowns. The taps explode against her earth sense, snapping her attention to the hand Zuko has seemingly absently left on the ground between them. Is that a nervous tic?

_Taptaptaptap. Taptap._

Nope, that pattern's too distinct for a nervous tic.

_Taptaptaptap. Taptap._

"Are you trying to talk to me?" Toph asks finally.

_TAP tap TAP TAP. Tap. Taptaptap._

_Okay,_ Toph thinks, a grin growing on her face. _I can work with this._

By lunchtime, she's got a small library of tapping patterns memorized. Turns out the system is pretty simple––two types of taps, one short, one long, are arranged in twenty six different patterns. The patterns are strung together to make words, and Toph is _delighted_ to find that it takes quite a bit of concentration to differentiate one pattern from another. She's never had to work so hard for something in her entire life, and the challenge enthralls her.

It's also awesome when she taps out something crude in response to a comment Katara makes, which results in Zuko spraying tea out his nose.

_B-R-A-T_ , he taps out, shaking with silent laughter. He rubs a knuckle roughly into her scalp, and she threatens to smush him like a bug. She can't help the wild grin that crosses her face when his heartbeat only jumps a little bit at the threat.

After lunch, the campsite gets packed up and they all clamber back into Appa's saddle. Flying still sucks, but Zuko tapping on her knee, slowly telling her a story about his tribe's patron spirit Akai the Hunter, helps keep her mind off of her churning stomach. She has to really pay attention, because she definitely still mixes patterns up, and it makes the time speed by.

She could definitely get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Time: **Pursuit**
> 
> want to yell at me about how awesome Toph is? you can do so [here](https://awkwardpenguinproductions.tumblr.com)
> 
> 😱😱😱 I forgot!! [This](https://muffinlance.tumblr.com/post/189757241921/would-toph-be-precise-enough-to-sense-mutezukos) post is the direct inspiration for this installment!


End file.
